Birkir Jonsson assumed the role as head swim coach and director of aquatics for York College in early July 2021.
Jonsson came to York from UMBC where he spent the 2020-21 as the head senior gold coach for the UMBC Retriever Aquatics program. He was also on staff for the UMBC Retriever varsity men's and women's swim programs. Jonsson was in charge of all Retriever club coaches while he also assisted the aquatics director in the daily operations of the UMBC facility.
Prior to UMBC, Jonsson spent the 2018-19 academic year on the coaching staff at Texas Christian University (TCU). He was the recruiting coordinator and was in charge of international recruiting as well as domestic recruiting in the eastern time zone. He helped the Horned Frogs program finish third on the men's side and fourth in the women's Big 12 Championships in Austin, Texas.
"I am humbled and honored to have been selected as the new Director of Aquatics and Head Coach for Men's and Women's Swimming here with York College," said Jonsson. "I want to thank Assistant Dean for Athletics and Recreation Paul Saikia and all of the search committee for this amazing opportunity. It is a huge honor and I look forward to get started on this new chapter in my career as well as to help build on the great tradition here at York."
Jonsson graduated from Old Dominion University with a degree in communications along with minors in marketing and management. He swam for the Monarchs for two years after spending his first two years at the University of New Orleans.
After his time at ODU, Jonsson spent six years as an assistant coach at George Washington University. His responsibilities included preparing and conducting twice daily workouts for sprint and stroke groups including strategic planning for championship and non-championship seasons. Jonsson also played a key role in recruiting for the men's program. The Colonials set 102 school records to go along with 20 A10 first team finishers and 12 runner-up finishers during his time on the George Washington staff. He also earned his master's degree in sport management during his time at GW.
In three seasons at York, Jonsson and the Spartans have experienced much success at the conference level. Jonsson earned MAC Men's Coach of the Year honors in 2023 as the Spartans finished third out of 14 teams at the MAC Championships. The men have finished inside the top-five three times, while the women have a trio of top-seven finishes at the conference championship meet.
(Updated: 9/27/2024)
